Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage's Book - Chapter 13

Time flew by, and it had already been a week since Binaeril started his special training. It was the day of the monster subjugation practice, one of the major events in Elfenbine’s schedule.

During this time, Binaeril had undergone quite a few changes. His shoulders broadened a bit, muscles started to develop, and his stamina improved significantly compared to before.

“Ugh…!”

As he tried to get out of bed, he couldn’t accomplish his goal. He felt his whole body scream in pain. While Dean Yulio, who ordered the rigorous training, was problematic, the real devil was someone else. Sylvia genuinely enjoyed Binaeril’s suffering.

“Are you already giving up? A man shouldn’t be so weak.”

“How do you expect to help Rike with such poor stamina?”

The word “moderation” didn’t exist in her vocabulary. If his lower body was exhausted, she’d work on his upper body, and vice versa. Her torture was almost on a professional level. However, if he was late for the practice session, all his training would be for naught.

Binaeril swallowed the intense muscle pain and headed to the meeting point. Thankfully, people had not yet departed. It seemed there were still a few students who were later than him.

“Mark all those who haven’t arrived yet as absent.”

Binaeril made it just in time.

“Thank goodness.”

– You should hurry up next time.

‘You didn’t even wake me up.’

– I’m your mentor and contractor. Do I have to play the role of a nanny too?

Familiar faces approached at that moment.

“Good morning, Binaeril.”

“Why are you so late?”

It was Rike and Sylvia. As usual, they were inseparable. Thanks to the week of training, Binaeril and the two girls had become quite close. None of them were particularly outgoing, so they naturally started looking out for each other like close friends.

“They’re about to start team assignments. Let’s go quickly.”

The monster subjugation practice was conducted in pairs. Since the partners were chosen randomly, a bit of luck was needed to get good results. If someone like Gillian ended up as your partner, it would be a disaster.

“Speaking of which.”

“What happened to Gillian? Haven’t seen him lately.”

“Yeah, I wonder?”

“Ahem, ahem.”

Sylvia awkwardly cleared her throat.

“What’s with you?”

While the three were chatting idly, the results of the team assignments were announced. The student who would be partnering with Binaeril for the monster subjugation was…

“Oh my. Binaeril, we’re in the same team.”

It was Princess Rike.

“Why you instead of me!”

Sylvia screamed in frustration. She had an intense attachment to Rike. Binaeril tried his best to avoid meeting Sylvia’s gaze. How could he know? It wasn’t his decision…

The monster subjugation practice was held only once per semester and was one of the few opportunities for students to experience real combat. Elfenbine’s purpose was to train mages, and the reason for a mage’s existence was to hunt monsters.

In light of this, the subjugation practice could be seen as the event that most closely aligned with Elfenbine’s primary purpose. The practice was held in the northern part of Elfenbine, in a place known as the Forest of Magic. The Forest of Magic was a vast and dense forest that spanned the barren northern land of Babaroana. While areas with frequent human traffic, such as cities, castles, and highways, were relatively safe from monsters due to regular subjugation efforts, undeveloped areas like border regions, forests, remote places, and plains were always exposed to the threat of monsters.

However, the magic tower did not throw students into the jaws of death. The practice took place at the forest’s edge. Supervisors, including instructors, intervened minimally to provide students with real experience. Unless a truly dangerous monster appeared, nothing would help the students. The students had to handle monster detection, tracking, and hunting on their own.

Binaeril and Rike’s team was progressing smoothly with their subjugation.

“Got one here!”

“Great!”

At the forest’s edge, deadly monsters that posed a life-threatening danger were rare. They mostly encountered small monsters like gremlins and goblins. The evaluation for the subjugation practice was based on hunting monsters and collecting by-products to submit. If lucky, they might get a lower-grade magic stone, but more commonly, they would collect items like leather.

“Ugh…”

Binaeril was in charge of handling the hunted monsters. It was knowledge he had learned from books during his junior years.

“It’s going smoother than expected.”

“Indeed. Maybe we’ve gotten stronger?”

Rike also showed some improvement over the past week. She had received a lot of help from Binaeril. Naturally not adept at offensive magic, she had absorbed Binaeril’s expertise in ice magic like a sponge. She was happier learning from a friend of similar skill level than from formal classes.

“There’s another one over there!”

Her innate talent for detecting monsters made finding them her responsibility.

‘This feels like I’m a servant following a noble on a hunt.’

Binaeril just trailed behind her, taking care of the monsters she hunted. Because the enemies were less challenging than expected, he had little opportunity to take action.

“It would’ve been nice if Sylvia had come with us.”

“Is one attendant not enough for you, my lady?”

“No, my lord~”

Binaeril teased her with an exaggerated impression of a sycophantic courtier. Every time he made such jokes, Rike had a moment of uncertainty, wondering if her true identity had been discovered. In short, she was fun to tease.

By the draw, Sylvia had been paired with Gospelt Louis. Once an object of jealousy, Gospelt no longer stirred any feelings in Binaeril since he had mastered magic.

“Sylvia is doing fine. Want to compare who caught more afterwards? We can’t let her win, right?”

“Right. I need to show that I’m not someone who needs protection anymore.”

With just a little prompting, Rike’s enthusiasm quickly revived. She rolled up her sleeves and scanned the forest intently. While Sylvia was not an easy person to handle, neither was Princess Rike. Her strength and weakness were her straightforwardness.

“Why are there only these weaklings around? Isn’t there anything stronger?”

“Why don’t you find one yourself? Didn’t you hear what the supervisor said earlier? Going too far might be dangerous.”

“At this rate, we won’t be able to get first place.”

“Are you getting annoyed at me right now?”

Sylvia and Gospelt’s team wasn’t doing as well as expected. The two clashed on every issue. Gospelt kept trying to venture deeper into the forest, while Sylvia alternated between cajoling and scolding him to stop.

“Coward! I’m going further in, even if I have to go alone.”

“Ha, you’re funny. You do know we’ll lose points if we split up, right? It’s not like I enjoy sticking with you.”

The elixir that Professor Freud had given Gospelt was still in his pocket. Time was slipping away, and at this rate, they’d finish the practice without encountering any significant monsters. He couldn’t afford to waste any more time. Biting his lip, Gospelt came up with a plan.

“What are you doing?”

He opened the elixir bottle and swallowed the pill inside. If he couldn’t go to the monsters, he’d have to bring them to him. Monsters preyed on living creatures, specifically the magic within them. The Forest of Magic was particularly dense with magical energy, making it a prime habitat for monsters. If he released a strong, artificial burst of magic in the heart of the forest, monsters would surely be drawn to it. That was Gospelt’s plan.

“Hey! What are you doing!”

Unfortunately, Sylvia didn’t have the same keen senses as Rike. To her, it looked like Gospelt was suddenly spreading his arms and acting crazy.

“Are you striking a pose for the monsters? They can’t even see you in the forest.”

Gospelt ignored her and continued to release his magic into the air. After a short while, there was a rustling sound from deeper in the forest. Something big was coming. Sylvia held her breath and whispered urgently.

“Hey! Something’s coming! Shouldn’t we run? Get over here!”

Gospelt ignored her again, a satisfied smile on his face. Now it was his time to shine. Whatever it was, it would be his prey.

Rike and Binaeril exchanged glances at the same time. Although Binaeril wasn’t as sensitive as Rike, he could sense the concentrated magical energy from across the forest. It felt artificial, like a bottle of magic had been broken open and was leaking out.

If Binaeril could sense it this clearly, Rike could probably understand the situation even better.

“Something is approaching from over there.”

As expected, Binaeril’s thoughts were correct. However, there weren’t many clues to piece together yet. Was it an accident? Was it one of the supervising professors doing something? Should they just ignore it and continue with the practice?

“Binaeril.”

Rike, deep in thought, suddenly called out to him.

“It’s in Sylvia’s direction.”

“…Let’s go.”

Rike nodded with a worried expression. The closer they got to the source of the magic, the darker Rike’s expression became. Even though both were magic, the difference between a mage’s magic and a monster’s magic was clear. Whoever was releasing magic over there was human, but the entity approaching that person was not a mage. It was a monster, and a much stronger one than the minor ones they’d been dealing with.

And Sylvia was right at the intersection of those two sources of magic.

“We need to hurry.”

Rike’s words were filled with anxiety. Binaeril no longer felt his muscle pain. “Get on my back. I’ll run.”

The past week’s training had not been in vain.

“Gasp…!”

Sylvia instinctively covered her mouth. She knew she shouldn’t draw attention to herself. The creature in front of her was something she had read about, even if she didn’t have extensive knowledge of monsters.

It was massive and imposing, with a chilling gaze and solidly planted four legs. Sylvia recalled its name from her memory.

“Dire Wolf…”

The wolf monster calmly observed Sylvia and Gospelt, its demeanor almost relaxed. It seemed confident it could catch its prey no matter what.

Gospelt was momentarily taken aback but soon started laughing. Sylvia thought he was insane.

“Ha ha, you finally arrived! Now, hand over your magic stone!”

‘Please, just shut up!’

He hadn’t even secured anything, yet his attitude was overly arrogant.

“Lightning of the sky, heed my call.”

Gospelt began chanting a spell out of the blue. Sylvia couldn’t understand his bravado in provoking the monster. The Dire Wolf did not immediately attack. It tilted its head, seemingly waiting for Gospelt to finish his chant. Perhaps it was curious to see what he would do.

“…Strike my enemy with divine retribution!”

Gospelt cast a 3rd-tier lightning spell. Sylvia doubted his abilities but decided to forgive him if the results were good.

However.

Bang.

The thunderbolt Gospelt summoned hit the Dire Wolf accurately. Considering the difficulty of controlling lightning magic, it was a decent feat.

“Growl?”

“…What?”

But the spell’s power was disappointing, more like static electricity than a true lightning strike. It was evident his magic didn’t match the spell’s requirements.

Sylvia watched the Dire Wolf’s reaction. If she could read its expression, she would have seen a look of utter disbelief.

“Growl!”

The Dire Wolf roared menacingly. The weak attack had only served to irritate it further. It bared its teeth and slowly advanced on the two of them.

“My magic… is all used up…”

Gospelt muttered in a dazed voice. Sylvia, standing nearby, heard him clearly.

“You crazy lunatic…”

Sylvia cursed her luck for being paired with someone like him. Although she had just met him today, her opinion of Gospelt Louis had plummeted to the lowest depths.